


To Trust Again revised

by BettyHT



Series: You Can't Go Home Again [6]
Category: Bonanza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 14:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16177409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BettyHT/pseuds/BettyHT
Summary: 6th in the You Can't Go Home Again series.  With Candy's help, Adam takes charge of a cattle drive for the Ponderosa.  Disaster strikes and Adam worries about how his family especially his father will react, but he has more worries because some of the men working the drive know he's carrying cash.





	To Trust Again revised

To Trust Again revised

chapter 1

The straps on his wrists were pulled tight. Sometimes they weren't so tight and then the lash didn't bite so much. But this huge man who tied his wrists wanted them tight so he knew this set of lashes would slice open his back, and he would be unlikely to be able to hold back the screams it seemed they always wanted. The ties were so tight they had pulled him up on his toes as his wrists had been tied to the rings in the wall that had all the brown stains on it. How many men had stood here like this? Like a pig trussed for slaughter. He was helpless and afraid. His back was bare because they had made him remove his dirty shirt first. A bucket of cold water was thrown over him to soften his skin. The lash could bite even better now. His heart began to race and his breathing became more shallow and rapid. Soon, soon, he would feel the first bite of the lash. How many had they said? Was it five or ten this time? He couldn't remember as a panic began to settle in. It made it hard to think. Then the first lash hit and he tried not to scream but a groan escaped his lips. Then another lash and another and another hit and then he screamed. And he screamed again with the next lash. Through his tears he looked back to see Ben Cartwright, his father, holding the bloody lash and looking so proud of himself for what he had done. At each side stood a son: Joe on one side and Hoss on the other.

"Wake up, Adam, wake up. You're having another nightmare. Please wake up."

With a fierce shove to Cici, Adam woke. As consciousness returned, he was mortified by what he had done, and reached out his arms to pull his beloved wife into an embrace. Cici rested her head on his damp shoulder and held him close. She could feel his heart beating rapidly and his breathing was ragged yet.

"Was it the lynching nightmare or the whipping one?"

Pausing before he spoke, Adam took a few deep breaths first. These nightmares seemed to be dogging him. It had been years now and he couldn't get away from the awful memories of almost dying in a lynching and then suffering the lash in prison.

"The whipping."

"And your family was there again?"

Although he had been able to tell her his family was present in his nightmares, Adam had not been able to ever tell her the whole story of his nightmare that his family were the ones doing those things to him. He knew they had nothing to do with any of it, but in his nightmares, it was different. Cici had guessed a long time before though. She had seen the looks he sometimes gave his family on the day after a nightmare. She knew, but she was struggling with finding a way to help him. Finally she decided the direct approach was the only way. Davy was asleep down the hall, and they had built a small cottage house for Mrs. Bayer nearby so she could help during the day, but they had their family privacy at night. Kim had a room off the kitchen, which was a long way from the bedrooms upstairs. They could talk, and Adam had his nightmares, and no one else knew.

"Is it your family who do these things to you in your dreams?"

Adam looked at Cici in amazement. He had to wonder how she had guessed. He should have known though. He married her for a lot of reasons, but some of it was her intelligence and curious mind.

"Yes. I don't know why. The nightmares would be bad enough, but with my family, it is so much worse."

"They trust you now, don't you think?"

"Yes, I think they do."

"But you don't trust them, do you?

Adam paused before responding. He had thought about this too. He trusted them, but in a crisis, Cici would stand with him, but his father and his brothers sometimes questioned him first. He wasn't as sure of them as he needed to be. He also didn't want to test the hypothesis. "I'm not as sure as I would like to be. I do trust them though."

"Is that why you have taken on no projects lately. You have rarely gone to town and spend time working with the mines and the timber only. You're healed from the concussion, but you begged off the cattle drive even though Hoss desperately wants you to go so he can be here when Barbara has that baby. If there's a confrontation or a crisis, you're afraid of what could happen, aren't you?"

"I am not afraid. I worry about you and Davy. If something happens to me, what will happen to you? That's what worries me."

"Do you trust me?"

"How can you even ask that? I trust you with everything I have: my heart, my son, everything."

"Trust me now. You need to go on that cattle drive. You need to face the trust issue with your family. At some point, you will make some mistakes. They will help you."

"And if they don't?"

"I know they will! They wouldn't dare face me if they didn't!"

Adam looked at her and smiled. His petite wife had the heart of a lion. She was fierce in protecting her own.

"With everything that's happened, this drive is a little late in getting started. I'll have to help them finish the roundup first. Hoss' baby may be here before the drive even starts."

"Doesn't matter. Hoss will need to be with his wife and child."

"How about me? Don't I have to be with my wife and child? I have needs too."

Cici smiled as Adam gave her that full dimple smile she loved so much, and she snuggled into his embrace. She ran her fingers through the hair on his chest. It tickled her all the time, and she loved it. She loved the feel of his chest on hers. She whispered that in his ear, and soon she had her wish.

The next morning with the dawn light breaking, Adam heard his son whimpering. After pulling on a pair of pants, he went to Davy's room and changed his diaper. Then he took Davy to the kitchen and fed him a little rice cereal that Kim always had ready in the early morning. Once he cleaned his son's face, he carried him upstairs and laid him in bed next to Cici. Davy loved these mornings and snuggled in next to his mama. After Adam finished dressing and checked to see that Davy had fallen asleep, he left to go see his brother.

At the Ponderosa main house, Adam arrived to find that only Hop Sing was already busy. He gave Adam a plate of eggs, ham, biscuits, and fried potatoes. Adam ate in the kitchen and chatted with his old friend. After about a half hour, Ben arrived at the kitchen door looking for a cup of coffee. As he greeted Adam, they could hear Hoss clumping down the stairs.

"What brings you here so early?"

"Came to tell Hoss that I'll boss the cattle drive for him."

"That is great. Hoss needs to be here, and Joe is so busy with the horse contracts, we can't spare him. Everything is going well with the mines and timber then? And your head?"

"Cici gave me the go-ahead. Yes, the mines and timber operations are running smoothly. Wouldn't hurt if someone would take a ride up to the camps though just to be sure. We're almost done with our contracts for the season with ample time to spare, but I would hate for something to happen that could cause a delay."

"Did I hear you right, brother? You're gonna do the cattle drive?"

"Yes, but I hope it's the last one I have to do."

Hoss slapped Adam on the back and almost made him spit out his mouthful of coffee. He choked a little and then grinned at Hoss.

"You need to work on that backslap a little. Slap your baby like that, and it'll want to go back inside."

Joe walked in and found out the news.

"Got a good remuda for you. Candy is ramrod so the two of you should have no trouble. We were short of help but hired a few men yesterday who seem to know what they're doing."

"Good. So as soon as the roundup is done, we're good to go."

 

Chapter 2

On the Sunday before the drive was to begin, Hoss brought Barbara to see Cici for a check up to see how she was doing. She was due to deliver soon and as far as Barbara was concerned, any time would be a good time. She was tired of being huge and carrying all the extra weight. Fatigued, grumpy, hungry, and moody was not how she wanted to live. She had been having backaches too which added to her general discomfort. As Cici closed the exam room door, Hoss sighed in relief and looked at his older brother.

"Adam, how did you ever do it? This is killing me. I would rather live with a grizzly bear than Barbara lately. Marie was never like this, but she was a real quiet woman about everything."

"Hoss, Cici never got that large. Davy came a few weeks early. Your child is going to be a lot bigger than he was. I hope you're ready for a tough time when Barbara has to deliver. It isn't going to be easy."

"Well, what do I have to do?"

"Hold her hand and comfort her until Cici gets there to take charge. Then listen to the things she says blaming you for putting her in this position, and you can't say anything right, so say nothing."

"Aw, Adam, now Cici didn't do none of them things."

Adam raised his eyebrows at Hoss in a way to indicate that he was sugarcoating what actually happened. Hoss gave him a questioning look, and Adam shook his head yes. Hoss dropped his head and sighed. The cattle drive was looking like a better option all the time. Then Hoss noticed a large pile of books on the table, just before the door opened and Barbara came out. As she waddled over to Hoss trying to maneuver her huge stomach around the dining room table, Hoss pulled out a chair for her to sit. Cici walked out to tell him everything was fine, but that she thought the baby could arrive very soon. Barbara noticed the stacks of books too.

"What are all these books here? Looks like you raided the library."

"I'm teaching drawing and architecture to Cici, and she's teaching medicine to me. We think this may be a great way to spend the winter months."

"Only the two of you woulda thought that book learning was a great way to spend the winter."

"Cici, I would love to see your drawings. I'm sure Hoss would be interested too."

Cici started to get a little pink in the face. She did not want them to see what she had been drawing. Adam had suggested that with her knowledge of anatomy and physiology figure drawing would be the way to start, and he was the only candidate for a model because Davy would never sit still for more than a minute. All the drawings so far were of Adam, and he wasn't clothed in any of them.

"Sweetheart, why don't you show them your drawings?"

"Adam, you know I can't." Cici paused and thought a little. "Of course, if you want to show off a little by having your student show them what I've learned so far, I would do that."

Cici smirked, and Adam started to get a little nervous. When she started walking to the stairs, he grabbed her around the waist and turned her back to the dining table. He was vividly remembering that morning's session.

Her instructions had surprised him. "Don't get dressed. Just lean back against the headboard and let the sheet lay over your legs just like it is."

"This is not a usual pose for figure drawing."

"I want something to remember you by when you're gone. I would like to do something to enhance what I'm drawing, but if I do, I'll never get back to my sketchbook here."

So in Cici's sketchbook, there were side views and back views of a naked Adam seated on a chair. However now there was also a full frontal view of him in bed with the sheet covering only his lower legs. He was not going to let anyone but her ever see that. He would burn her sketchbook first.

"No that's all right. Maybe when she starts doing some landscapes, she can draw one for you. So far she only has beginner's sketches."

Luckily for Adam, Davy started to wail about that time and Cici went to get him. As she appeared at the top of the stairs a little later, he checked to make sure there was no sketchbook in her hands. Once downstairs, she set Davy down and he crawled over to his Uncle Hoss and grabbed handfuls of pants to pull himself into a standing position.

"Well, lookee here, Davy can stand all by himself."

"Yes, it's something he just started this week. Now he can get into even more mischief especially with his height. I think he may end up taller than his father."

Adam was proud of his son who had turned to smile at his father. Davy liked to show off a little and reminded Adam of Joe when he did that. As soon as he saw his father smile at him, Davy dropped to the floor to crawl to Adam. Adam sat on a chair and Davy pulled himself up to stand at his knee where he grinned in delight.

"You two have such a happy child. There's no indication that he was hurt at all by that ugly incident. I hope our baby can be that happy."

Hoss wrapped his arms around his wife as well as he could. Suddenly, Barbara leaned back into him with a grunt, and wrapped her arms around her middle. Cici walked over to see if there was anything she could do.

"Do you want to have the baby here or at the main house?"

"It's coming now?"

"I thought she was very close based on the exam, and based on what is going on, it's now."

"Is there time for me to go back to the main house? I would rather be in my own bed."

"There's time. Adam can you get our carriage ready. I'll go along, and I think I may be there a while."

Hoss helped Barbara out to their carriage, and Cici brought out some towels just in case. She expected Barbara's water would break soon and she would need the towels. Once back in the house, she packed up medical supplies and an overnight bag for herself. Adam brought the carriage up and once she was on her way, he picked up his son and headed over to ask Mrs. Bayer to take care of Davy. Then he saddled up to head over to the main house.

Late that night Adam rode home alone. Cici was still busy with Barbara. It was going to be a marathon labor by all indications. Adam needed to get some sleep before he left on the drive the next morning. Hoss and Ben were there and Hop Sing was helping. It was just a big baby and it would be a difficult delivery. Cici had said everything appeared normal though so he wasn't expecting anything but a good outcome.

At the main house, Hoss was wearing a pattern in the floor with his pacing or at least it seemed that way to Ben and Joe. After Adam left, he was worse. Adam always had a steadying influence on his younger brother. As the darkness gave way to daylight, there was still no baby. Suddenly Hoss stopped and groaned.

"Dadburnit, I never did tell Adam about those two jaspers we hired. It's too late now. Knowing him, he already is out there getting ready to move."

"Son, Adam isn't going to hold a prison record over their heads. He's worked with people like that before. He'll judge them on their work."

"Ya, Hoss, that Bud has a prison record, and he's one of Adam's best friends."

"Oh, I ain't worried so much about Adam. I'm worried about them two. They was both in Nevada Prison. What if they were in prison the same time he was? What if they try to use that against him?"

"He's right, Pa. Those two are pretty young so they had to have been in there recently and unless they had very short sentences, they were there when Adam was."

"I'm sure Adam can handle them."

The conversation was cut short with a loud wail from upstairs. Hoss ran to the foot of the stairs anxiously waiting for permission to go up. It seemed to him that it took hours but it was only about five minutes and Cici came to the top of the stairs to tell him to come upstairs and meet his son, Gabriel Michael Cartwright. As Hoss entered the room, Barbara was holding their precious Gabe and smiled at her husband. She was very pale, her hair was wet, and she looked about ten years older at that moment, but her smile said that none of that mattered. Hoss sat on the edge of the bed and Barbara told him to take the precious bundle. Hoss gently picked up his son and held him to his chest. He may have been nine pounds, but was still a fragile gift. Hoss couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Ben and Joe crowded the doorway to see the newborn. Hoss turned and showed off his son. There was a lot of noise from downstairs which was explained when two blond heads rushed into the room to see their new brother. Rachel was right behind them with her two girls.

"They couldn't wait. I'm not sure they slept last night. We had to get here as soon as the sun rose this morning."

"Hoss has a beautiful baby boy."

"Maybe that's what our next one will be."

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"Oh in about seven months, we ought to have the answer."

Ben looked on proudly as Joe hugged his wife and then looked to his two girls.

"We're going to have a baby! We're going to have a baby."

One would have thought it was his first instead of his third they were celebrating. Ben ushered Hoss' children out and Joe did the same with his family so that Cici could examine Barbara and talk with Hoss and Barbara. After a brief exam, Cici wanted to be sure that they both understood that Barbara was not to get out of bed to do anything except use the chamber pot and that she needed someone with her when she did that.

"Yours is the most difficult delivery I have ever done that wasn't a breech. There was some bleeding that has stopped, and the last thing we want is for that to start again. Anything you need will be done for you. Is that understood?"

Barbara nodded yes, and Hoss reinforced Cici's statement by repeating it. Cici made them aware of what could happen if Barbara started bleeding again. She knew she was scaring them, but it was one way of insuring that they would do as instructed. Then Cici left for home. It was a short ride, and she wanted to see her son and sleep in her own bed, which is what she told Ben when he suggested she rest at the main house. She was disappointed but not surprised to find Adam already gone when she got home.

Out on the drive, things were going smoothly too for the first morning. Candy and Adam had agreed that they would push the herd hard for the first two days through the area badly affected by drought. There was little grazing to be done and precious little water. Once through those areas and into the more lush valleys beyond, they would slow to a leisurely pace or even stop for a day. The cattle would get the feed and water they needed, and the rest of the way should proceed without a problem they hoped.

As soon as Adam had started to help with the roundup, the two new hands had recognized him. They had been in prison with him and had participated in attacks on him. It had been a disappointment when he was released and the benefits they had been receiving for their work were no longer available. They blamed Adam for that in the illogical way many criminals thought. They grinned at each other when he showed up to boss the drive. They decided they would have some fun and get payback too as soon as they discussed how best to do it.

 

Chapter 3

Staring at the barrier of flimsy fences ahead of them, Candy and Adam weren't sure how to proceed. If they moved forward, it was trespassing and could cause all sorts of trouble. However, going around it would be prohibitively expensive.

"Adam, there were no fences here last spring."

"Well, there are fences here now. If we have to go around these, it will cost us at least a week because there isn't any water in either of the valleys near here. We have to head back east, go south, before we can move west again. Then we'll be well south and have to head directly north before heading west again."

"The cattle don't have that much extra on them because of the drought. They're gonna be downright skinny by the time we get to the ranches that ordered them. We'll have to renegotiate the terms."

"Candy, I know that. I'll head out to see if I can negotiate a fee for letting us pass through. Hold the cattle here. I should be back by nightfall."

It wasn't that long though. As Adam and Candy moved to make a space for him to ride forward, shots were fired at their feet. Both of the men held back and waited as a group of riders approached.

"This is Fuller land. You ain't got no right to take down that fence!"

"I wasn't going to take it down. If I was going to take it down, I would just run the cattle over it. I wanted to talk to the owner of the fence about a fee for letting the herd pass through here."

"No fee because there ain't gonna be no passage."

"Could I speak to the owner please?"

A young man rode forward and identified himself as the owner.

"Could we talk please and come to an understanding? We've driven cattle through here for twenty years. This is open range. It isn't supposed to be fenced."

"You got a badge to back that up? I didn't think so. Now you just ride outta here. You come back and we'll shoot any man or any cow that crosses this fence line. Unless of course, you wanted to sell them cows to me. I'm paying three dollars a head."

Now they knew what the fence was about, but without a lawman to help, they were stymied. Adam and Candy rode back to the herd. There didn't seem to be a good option open to them. They didn't want to start a range war, they couldn't sell at such a ridiculously low price, and any shooting would scatter their herd all over these hills. If they headed south, there was going to be a severe monetary loss, but it seemed the least awful of the choices they had. The trip had been plagued with trouble. Somehow some of the cattle had gotten some loco weed and went wild. After they seriously injured a drover who was now riding in the chuck wagon, they had to shoot several of the ones most affected. They had found several water holes fouled with the entrails of animals. They had had to push on those days in order to get to the next watering hole. The men were grumbling and a few threatened to quit but promises of a bonus if they got to their destination in time had quieted them. Now with this delay, there would be no bonuses and they might lose a few men. It would cost them a lot of their cash on hand and leave them shorthanded as well.

Charlie was cooking and as they got back, he walked over to Adam and Candy to tell them of trouble in camp.

"Some of the men are saying this drive is bad luck cause we got a jonah in charge. They're saying if Hoss or Joe was bossing the drive, none of this would've happened."

"That's not true, Charlie. None of this can be blamed on Adam."

"Course I know that. Just wanted you to know what the talk is. It's getting nasty. Gonna be a mess soon. Almost all the talk that gets started is from those two new jaspers that got hired just before we left."

Adam and Candy went to confront the men who were talking. When they got there, the men focused in on Adam.

"So the girlie boy is ready to talk to us. Hey, Nance, we're real afraid now, ain't we."

Adam's temper was on the rise, and Candy put his hand on his arm, but he jerked it away.

"You have something you want to say to me?"

"Oh yeah, Jess and me was wondering if the men here felt safe with you around seeing as what happened in prison and all with you and other men. We all know about the two men you hired to work for ya. Must make it real convenient for ya to have them so close and all right there when you feel the urge. Course they ain't here now so maybe the men here don't feel so safe around you."

"Well, they should feel safe around me. I don't know about you two though. In prison, I got beaten and held down so men like you could have their way. In fact, I seem to recognize you two now. If there's anyone here they ought to worry about, it's the two of you. I got a wife and a son now. You two just seem to have each other. What conclusion should we take from that? Who's the girlie boys now?"

Adam had slowly moved so that the chuck wagon was directly behind him. Adam was baiting the two men, and Candy stepped back. He wanted to see what was going to happen first. Nance lost his cool and lunged forward and swung at Adam who stepped aside and propelled Nance into the side of the chuck wagon using his momentum to make him hit hard. Jess charged and Adam met him with a left upper cut and a vicious slam of his right arm across the back of the man's neck. He was down and out. Nance staggered up from the ground next to the wagon, but a couple of blows to his midsection and his chin, and he joined Jess on the ground. Charlie walked over with a bucket of dirty dishwater and dumped it over the heads of the two men. As they gradually regained their senses, Adam told them they were fired. He reached into the chuck wagon and took some money from the cash box to throw on the ground next to them before he turned and stalked off.

For the next week, things went smoothly on the drive. As they approached the town of Sequoia, Adam and Candy rode in to talk to the sheriff.

"That damn Fuller. He's tried that with the last several herds that moved through here. He's hurting businesses in town. Nobody's gonna want to drive a herd through here, and we used to get a lot of money with bosses buying stuff on the way through and letting the men have a night in town. I'll ride out there with some deputies and tear that damned fence down one more time. If you would press charges, we could try to stop him from doing it again."

"I'm sorry, but we have to make up time, and we can't afford to wait. If it will help, I'll try to ride back here when the herd is delivered."

The sheriff nodded. He didn't expect them back. He would need to find a way to stop Fuller from ruining this town. Adam and Candy rode back out to the herd, but Nance and Jess had been in the saloon and saw them. They started to plot revenge. The entrails and the loco weed hadn't been enough. Now they really wanted to make a mess of this drive, and maybe get a chance to take some more direct revenge on Adam Cartwright who they blamed for all their troubles now.

That night, storm clouds started building. The herd was restless, and even with extra men out trying to settle them down, they kept milling about. Adam rode out and tried singing, but it had little effect. These cattle had been through too much and were on edge. Adam and Candy were taking turns sleeping. As Adam headed out to relieve Candy for the last nighthawk shift, shots were fired and his horse fell. He kicked his foot out of the stirrup at the last second and pushed free just as the horse hit the ground. The next words he heard made his heart race. 'Stampede!' He had almost nowhere to go. A tree nearby was his only refuge and he climbed as fast as he could. He felt the tree shake a number of times as the herd rushed by him, but his luck held and the tree remained standing. He climbed down and walked back to where the camp had been. The chuck wagon was destroyed and there were bodies around it. He assumed Charlie and the injured drover were dead but he would have to wait for daylight to be sure. Adam stood with his head down ad pressed his hand to his brow. This was it. The disaster he feared. He wondered what his family would think of the mess this drive had become.

"It's not your fault."

Adam turned to see Candy sitting on his horse behind him. He had another horse on a lead rope. He handed the lead rope to Adam and headed to where Adam's dead horse lay. Between the two of them, they pulled off the saddle and tack and saddled the new horse.

"How bad is it?"

"We lost a lot of them. I'll show you if you want. There's a small draw up ahead that would have been a difficult climb down and up the other side, but running full out, the cows broke legs and necks as they went over. We shot the ones who weren't dead already. We probably will have about two hundred fifty head when we round up those that scattered."

"Any idea who shot my horse and started the stampede?"

"Didn't see anyone. Coulda been Fuller. Coulda been Nance and Jess. Who knows. Somebody wanted you dead and made a good try at it."

They buried the men who died. They salvaged what they could from the camp. The cash box had survived as well as some pans, pots, and such. With some beef from the cattle that perished, they would have enough food to finish. Adam paid off the men who had been hired only for the roundup and drive and sent some of the regular Ponderosa hands back home with most of the remuda. They were no longer needed. He and Candy and a few drovers would deliver what was left of the herd and then return as well. Adam wondered how his family would take the news of this disaster. Mostly he didn't want to think about that too much. He and Candy helped round up the strays, and they moved out with the remnant of the herd the next morning.

 

Chapter 4

On the Ponderosa, the drovers arrived back and debated which one of them should go to the main house and tell Ben Cartwright what had happened. No one wanted to do it so finally they all went to the house. One knocked and then stepped back to stand with his fellows. Hoss answered the door and was surprised to see the hands back. They weren't expected for another two weeks or more.

"What you boys doing back so soon?"

But even as Hoss asked, he knew the news wasn't good. The men were back early and they looked like somebody had shot their best friends. The men slowly filled him in on everything that had gone wrong and the role they suspected that Nance and Jess had played. They told him about the fences Fuller put in their way. Finally they told him about how someone had tried to kill Adam and sparked a stampede.

"None of it was his fault, Hoss. Things just went wrong one after another. It was like somebody was out there making sure we had lots of trouble. On the way back, we talked on it a lot and we think that them two new men was behind some of the trouble if not all of it. They never seemed as surprised as the rest of us with the messes we had, and they laughed about all of it too."

Hoss knew he should have warned Adam about those two. Now he would have to tell his father about this when he got back from town and hope he would handle things all right. He thanked the men and said he would have their pay from the drive as soon as he could get into town for some cash. If they wanted to head to town, he would use the cash on hand to make sure they had a good night back. The men agreed that was a grand idea so Hoss retrieved the cash from the safe and paid each man twenty dollars.

When Ben arrived home, Joe rode in with news that the horses for all the contracts were ready to go. Ben and Joe were smiling until Hoss walked out to talk with them. Hoss told Ben he ought to sit down, and he did with apprehension when he saw some hands from the drive walk out of the bunkhouse and grab their horses to ride out.

"Is Adam all right? Why are those men already back?"

Hoss repeated all that he had learned and waited to see what the response would be.

"We'll head out tomorrow morning. It's too late now to make much distance unless you two would rather start now. We can be with Adam in about a week if we leave now and ride hard. Maybe a bit more if we leave tomorrow morning."

"I'll head home to tell Rachel, and be back here with my saddlebags packed in less than an hour."

Hoss was already heading inside to pack his saddlebags and tell Barbara where he was going. Ben headed to the kitchen to ask Hop Sing to pack trail grub for them. They wouldn't stop any longer than necessary. Adam's life might be in danger, and they were going to be there to help him as soon as they could.

On the drive, Candy and Adam talked about their families and their travels. It seemed that they were growing closer by sharing the misery of this failed drive. After several days, they were nearing the stockyards where they would sell the cows they had. The grass was lush and water was abundant so they halted for four days to let the cattle recover somewhat from the trip. They had not pushed them for the last part of the drive so they were looking much better especially considering the trouble they had had. Once the four days were up, they moved the cattle to the stockyards. The owners who were expecting the herd came out to ask where the rest of them were, and Adam had to tell him of their losses. They commiserated about Fuller and his tactics that were costing the stockyards money too. This was the last straw. They decided they were going to send the marshal who could handle this as it was interference with interstate trade. He would back the sheriff and Fuller would be out of his tawdry little business.

Adam took the bank draft for the sale of the cattle. He went to the telegraph office to wire for money out of his personal accounts to pay the men. Once he had that, he went to the bank to get cash. He paid for rooms for the men and arranged for dinner for them.

"Then have a good time, but don't get arrested because I don't have enough money to bail you out."

With a chorus of agreement to that, the men headed out to have a good time and Candy went with them. Adam headed to the bathhouse where he planned to soak for a bit to ease his tired muscles. Then after dinner, he planned to head to his room with a bottle and sleep once he had drunk enough. He had not had much to drink in years but felt that tonight he would make an exception. He had told Candy that he was heading out the next morning. Candy was to stay until all the men were ready to go and then ride out with them.

Adam had his bath and his dinner. In his room, he stared at the bottle of whisky he had purchased. He decided not to drink more than a shot. It wouldn't help anything, and he would likely have an excruciating headache the next morning. Riding in the hot sun with a headache did not seem like a good idea at all, so he rolled the blanket on the bed back and lay down. Sleep was elusive, but he managed to get a few good hours. By dawn, he was ready to go. At the livery, he paid the fees for all the horses so that Candy and the men would not have to pay anything, and then he rode out. A few miles out of town, shots were fired and four men rode out from the trees on either side of him. They had rifles and pistols trained on him. Jess and Nance appeared to be in charge.

"Hand over that bank draft."

Adam remained silent. Nothing he said would matter to these men. He had given the bank draft to Candy last night. They wouldn't believe him or if they did, their anger would lead to the same result as if he had it. He felt he was a dead man at this point and thought only of his wife and his son. One of the men rode over and knocked him from the saddle with a rifle butt. Then two others dismounted and grabbed him by the arms. Jess walked up and demanded the bank draft again and then struck him in the abdomen. He doubled over with the pain but still said nothing. Nance pulled the quirt from his horse and told Jess to 'ready the prisoner' so Adam knew what was coming. That's what they had said in prison just before a prisoner was whipped. Whippings took place with the other inmates watching so all were familiar with the routine.

"Take off your shirt!"

Adam stood and refused to do so. Jess ripped the shirt down his back. The two other men grabbed his arms and pulled him toward a tree. Adam tried to fight, but it was hopeless. Within minutes they had tied each of his wrists to the tree and now he was trussed and ready for the lash. The same feelings he had had in prison and the same feelings he relived in those nightmares were there. His heartbeat was rapid and his breathing became ragged. Adam squeezed his eyes shut to stop the tears that were threatening. He waited for the first lash but there was none. What he heard was a familiar bellow.

"Stop! The first man who touches him with anything is going to be shot. Drop your weapons and move away."

Nance dropped the quirt and tried to draw but was no match for Joe. He fell and groaned with a bullet wound to his chest. Jess dropped his weapon and the front of his pants suddenly got much darker as the odor of urine assaulted the noses of the men next to him. They dropped their weapons as well. Adam twisted around as much as he could. There was his father with his pistol in hand and a self-satisfied smirk on his face. On either side were his sons: Hoss on one side and Joe on the other. Hoss dismounted and walked over to loosen the bonds on Adam's wrists.

"Heard ya had some trouble, older brother. We came to see if we could help out."

"Thank God."

"Nope. Thank Pa. He heard from the hands what happened and said we oughta head on out."

 

Chapter 5

Hoss noticed that Adam's hands were shaking as he undid the ropes. He put his arm out to steady his older brother and Adam leaned into him.

"Let's get you sitting down, older brother, and take a look at them scrapes you got. None look too bad but we don't want any infection setting in. Pa, would you get an extra shirt for Adam as soon as you get those jaspers tied up."

"There's a bottle of whisky in my saddlebags you can use. I don't have any clean shirts left. This one was but it's a mess now."

Hoss had raised his eyebrows at the news of the bottle.

"I was going to drink it, but I didn't."

Once Hoss had the whisky, he started to dab at the scrapes on Adam's face and hands. Adam winced with each dab.

"Dadburnit, Adam, sit still. I seen you hold still with a bullet in ya, and for these little scrapes, you're a squirming all over the place like a girl."

Adam glowered at his younger brother who laughed.

"There, I knew my older feisty brother was in there."

Ben walked over and handed a light grey shirt to Adam. "Might be a bit large but better than ripped or dirty. Heard you had quite a rough go out here this time. The hands told us about all the trouble, and that they think the two new hands were behind it all."

"I'm so.."

"Don't say that, son, none of this was your fault. Tarnation, if I was in charge, I think I would have blown my top like a volcano with everything that happened. The men said you kept your head and never took it out on anyone. Well except maybe those two, but from what we heard, they had it coming."

"Pa, Candy has the bank draft. It isn't much. I paid the men with my own funds. I didn't have enough with me to pay the ones I sent back."

"We'll reimburse you out of the Ponderosa accounts. With the timber contracts and the mines paying out this year, we have enough, and that's because of you so don't worry about this any more. It wasn't your fault."

"Adam, I'm plumb sorry I forgot to mention that those two jaspers were in prison and mighta knowed ya."

"Nothing to be sorry about. I thought they looked very familiar but didn't take the time to think about how I knew them. I should have, but some of the memories from that time are missing details like clear views of faces. When I challenged them in camp, I remembered, but by then, it was too late."

Joe walked over and placed his hand on Adam's shoulder. "Sure glad it was you and not me on this drive. I think I would've shot someone, and probably would have been that Fuller fella. You going to go back to do anything about him?"

"No, the ranchers who run the stockyards are sending the marshal to handle it. Fuller is probably out of his sorry little business by now."

Adam stood and put on the clean shirt. As he buttoned it up, Ben placed his hand on Adam's shoulder. Adam looked at his father and then reached out to him. Ben wrapped his arms around his oldest son who laid his head on his father's shoulder. Hoss and Joe each put a hand on Adam's back. After a minute, they broke apart. Each of the men dabbed at eyes that were brimming with tears. Adam nodded at them.

"Let's go home."

"As soon as we get these three in to the sheriff and bury that one."

At the sound of horses, all four men turned to see Candy and the drovers ride up. They were curious as to what had happened, and as soon as the story was shared, they helped dig a grave and then got the three prisoners on horseback. Adam and his family rode to town with them. The others waited at that spot until they returned, and then the whole group rode back together. That night in camp, the bottle of whisky was passed around, and the men regaled each other with stories of their travels that became more and more exaggerated as the bottle slowly emptied. By the end of the night, it wasn't clear if Adam or Joe was the best story teller, but it didn't matter as everyone laughed until their ribs ached as the brothers tried to outdo each other with tales of derring do.

As the group approached the main house of the Ponderosa, Adam was going to split off to go to his own home, but Joe stopped him.

"The ladies were planning to stay together at the main house. Should have been quite a treat for Hop Sing with three ladies, three girls, a boy, a toddler, and a baby."

As they rode into the yard, there was a stampede from the house. Cici and Barbara were carrying their babies so Rachel was the first to reach the riders. All were relieved to see everyone back and safe. Adam swung down from the saddle to embrace his wife and child. Hoss rushed to Barbara who stood with a beaming Mark and Iris. Joe pulled Anna up with him and walked to the stable before dismounting. He kissed Rachel and Bethany and smiled.

"He's back. I think he was worried about how we would react. But we're good. One of the men who did it is dead and the other is in jail. The hands were right about those two."

Similar stories were told by the other men. All of the family trooped back into the house. Adam greeted his sisters-in-law and then looked at his wife. He whispered in her ear.

"Is there a reason why I am embarrassing Barbara and Rachel? I looked and my pants are buttoned."

Cici started to turn a little pink, and Adam got worried. He knew this news couldn't be good.

"Well, Adam I was packing to come here, and the ladies were there because they came to get me after your father and brothers left. Davy was sleeping so I asked if they wanted some tea, and they did. So I went in to the kitchen to get the tea service and ask Kim to brew some."

"Enough of the unimportant details. What happened?"

"Well, I had been working on shading the drawings I made, just like you taught me, and the light in the dining room is so much better than in our bedroom so I had the sketchbook with me, and I guess I left it on the table."

Cici winced as she looked at Adam. He would know now wouldn't he? Did she actually have to say it?

"Cynthia Catherine, are you telling me that my sisters saw those pictures of me?"

"Well, I guess so. Apparently, Barbara saw the sketchbook and told Rachel that I was learning to draw and you were teaching me so they opened the sketchbook. I don't think they stopped at the first page."

Joe's giggles in the background that were soon joined by loud guffaws from Hoss let Adam know that his brothers now knew the story too.

"Well, perhaps it would make you feel better to know that they were quite impressed."

"Please say they were impressed with the skill of the artist."

"Well if that's what you want me to say."

Adam was quite a bit taller than Cici but at that moment, he felt smaller. Joe walked over and slapped him on the back.

"Well, Rachel thinks that Cici is one lucky woman!"

"Joe, not another word!"

Ben was mystified as to what was happening until Hoss walked over to him to tell the tale. Ben couldn't help himself and started laughing too. Hop Sing was giggling as he stood at the kitchen door as the ladies had shared the story as all had worked together for the past ten days.

"Dinner served. You all eat now when food is hot. Eat now. Eat."

Adam and Cici grabbed plates of food and Davy to head out to the porch to eat as there wasn't room at the table for all of them.

"How are you feeling, really?"

"Better. No nightmares for the last three nights. Memories are flooding back in though. Things are more clear now. It's not that I'm remembering more that happened but the details are showing up."

"That's good. Your mind is healing too."

"No more headaches either."

Joe could be heard from inside doing his best to use Adam's story to entertain.

"He didn't need to fight the men to be 'bull of the woods'. He could've just showed them."

Adam grimaced when he heard that and even more with the laughter that followed.

"Well except for that particular headache."

Adam noticed that Cici's plate was piled high with as much food as he had taken, and it wasn't for Davy because he had his own plate. He had a suspicion that he might know the reason.

"Is there something you would like to tell me?"

Cici smiled at him and stood next to him, pulled his hands to make him stand, and wrapped her arms around him.

"In about six months, Joe and Rachel will be welcoming a new baby. So will we about a month later. And yes, I am feeling fine. Hungry as a bear and no nausea."

Adam kissed his wife passionately and whispered in her ear what he wanted to do when they got home. Davy wanted in on the hug so Adam picked him up. Ben walked outside as Adam and Cici were each kissing one of Davy's cheeks.

"Sandwich kiss!"

Davy laughed and grabbed their chins to pull them in for another. Ben smiled and walked over to the happy family who filled him in on their joyous news. After heartfelt congratulations, he hurried back in with permission to tell the news to the others. Soon there was a chorus of cheers from inside. The future looked bright and rosy again.


End file.
